Fed-up commuter Danyal Mustafa clashes with RMT members on the picket today at Victoria station in central London

The strike crippled commuter routes into London from the South East - after months of chaotic delays and cancellations on the same network sparked calls for Southern to be stripped of the franchise.

IT worker Danyal Mustafa, 39, rowed with RMT members on a picket line outside Victoria station where he told them: "You should be sacked".

Workers held a red banner reading: "This strike is about safety" and some wore T-shirts saying: "Keep the guard, on the train, keep trains safe".

Pickets are also being held in Brighton, Redhill, Eastbourne, Horsham and Barnham as parts of Surrey, Sussex and Kent were left with no trains for a week.

Mr Mustafa, who comutes to London from Carshalton, said he confronted those on the picket after "months and months" of problems on the service.

He said afterwards: "I just don't understand how hurting the passengers is going to help their cause. If they really have got a grievance then they need to approach it in a different way, but this is not the way to do it.

Danyal Mustafa told striking Southern Rail workers they should be sacked as a five-day walk-out brought fresh chaos to the troubled network

"Amazingly today my train was OK but most of the other times, particularly in the evenings, I could come to the station and there are three or five trains cancelled in a row but annoyingly you do not find out until sometimes seconds before the train is due.

"Sometimes you come to Victoria and it is chaos, the whole board is delayed or cancelled and no one knows what is going on.

"There is also disrespect from some of the staff on the platforms who do not seem to be able to find any information. It is just constant frustration.

"I did say to them (on the picket) 'You should be sacked' because honestly that is what I believe. How many other jobs would accept this kind of behaviour? If you are really upset in your job, get a different job."

The start of the week-long strike came as London's Waterloo and City Underground line was shut this morning by a signal failure - forcing passengers on other already crowded routes.

Shaun Collins, 49, who works in marketing and had travelled from Streatham, South London, said: "Clearly the service is not of a very high standard at the moment but I am separating that from the industrial action."

Of the standard of service and cuts to the train timetable, he said: "It has caused an enormous amount of disruption. Am I happy? No, I am not happy. I would like the service to be much better."

Ministers have slammed the strike as doing “devastating” harm to passengers and “needless pain” to the economy as an estimated 300,000 commuters face a battle to get to work.

Commuter Juliet Mushens tweeted: "There's no train from here for over an hour but TBH there never is anyway so..."

She added: "The irony of the Southern Rail Strike is that the usual service is so bad that I genuinely can't tell the difference."

The bad news is Southern Rail are only operating 60% of trains today. The good news is that's 10% more than usual. #southernstrike

southern fail

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH

just the ticket

Suffered at the hands of Southern, Great Western, South West Trains or Thameslink? How to claim a refund

RMT general secretary Mick Cash, picketing at Victoria, said: "The strike action this morning is rock solid across the Southern Rail network as we fight to put rail safety before the profits of the failed Govia Thameslink operation.

"This action has been forced on us by the arrogance and inaction of Govia Thameslink and the Government who have made it clear that they have no interest in resolving this dispute or in tackling the daily chaos on Southern.

"Our fight is with the company and the Government who have dragged this franchise into total meltdown. We share the anger and frustration of passengers and we cannot sit back while jobs and safety are compromised on these dangerously overcrowded trains."

Commuters waiting for a trains at Brighton station, East Sussex, as the longest rail strike since 1968 began today

Southern's Passenger Service Director Angie Doll said: "We have gone the extra mile with our compromise offer, but the RMT has made it clear they are not prepared to negotiate. They did not want to discuss the role of the on-board supervisor and remain rigidly opposed to evolving the role of on-board staff to focus more on customers.

"We are deeply disappointed and angry on behalf of our passengers at this stance, which will cause misery for our passengers and untold damage to the local economy in the southeast.

"The RMT's strike is unnecessary, unacceptable and unjustified."

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators and Network Rail, said: "The strike action is going to cause misery for thousands of passengers. Southern's offer to its staff last week shows there are no risks to jobs or pay.

"Drivers have been closing train doors elsewhere on the railway for the last three decades so we know that it is a safe way of working."